Blanket cleaning attachment for offset presses



Nov. 5, 1968 s. M. CLAUSEN 3,408,934

BLANKET CLEANING ATTACHMENT FOR OFFSET PRESSES Filed March 7, 1967 4Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG] R Bl 7 75 5Q \u 49 77 6| 57 47 39 INVENTOR SHELBY M.CLAUSEN ATTORNEY Nov. 5, 1968 s. M. CLAUSEN 3,408,934

BLANKET CLEANING ATTACHMENT FOR OFFSET PRESSES Filed March 7, 1967 4Sheets-Sheet 2 -49 INVENTOR SHELBY M. CLAUSEN ATTORNEYS Nov. 5, 1968 s.M. CLAUSEN 3,408,934

BLANKET CLEANING ATTACHMENT FOR OFFSET PRESSES Filed March 7, 1967 4Sheets-Sheet 3 SHELBY M. CLAUSEN I23 1 7|79l77 '75 BY FIG.|5 WW 7 ATTORNEYS Nov. 5, 1968 s. M. CLAUSEN 3,408,934

BLANKET CLEANING ATTACHMENT FOR OFFSET PRESSES 4 SheetsSheet 4 FiledMarch INVENTOR SHELBY M. CLAUSEN MW E m SN ATTORNEYS 3,408,934 BLANKETCLEANING ATTACHMENT FOR OFFSET PRESSES Shelby M. Clausen, 1407 E.Richwood Blvd., Peoria, Ill. 61603 Continuation-in-part of applicationSer. No. 496,567, Oct. 15, 1965. This application Mar. 7, 1967, Ser. No.634,398 21 Claims. (Cl. 101-425) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Anattachment for cleaning cylindrical surfaces, such as the surface of anoffset printing press blanket cylinder, comprising a tray arranged forstationary mounting adjacent the surface, a cleansing fluid pan in thetray, and containing a wick elongated parallel to the axis of thesurface and having an edge engageable with the surface for distributingthe cleansing fiuid thereto, and a similarly elongated wiper blademounted in the tray and having an edge engageable with the surface forwiping cleansing fluid and accumulated foreign matter from the surfaceand depositing the same in the tray.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending applicationSer. No. 496,567 filed Oct. 15, 1965 now abandoned.

The invention relates to cleaning apparatus for offset printing pressesand consists particularly in an attachment for cleaning the blanketcylinders of such presses.

Conventional offset presses have three cylinders-a plate cylinder, towhich the plate carrying the image is secured, a blanket cylindercovered with a rubber sheet or blanket and in tangential engagement withthe plate to receive from the plate the inked portions of the image, andan impression cylinder between which and the blanket cylinder the paperpasses to receive an impression from the blanket cylinder.

During operation of an offset press the blanket cylinder accumulatesforeign matter including coating and lint from the paper which formspiling on the cylinder. Static electricity is also produced on theblanket cylinder. This results in poor transference of the inked imagefrom the plate cylinder to the blanket cylinder, and from the blanketcylinder to the paper. Excess water on the blanket cylinder from thedampening rollers which dampen the plate cylinder is also troublesome.

Accordingly it is the object of the invention to provide simple yeteffective means for preventing the accumulation of foreign matter,excess water and static electricity on the surfaces of offset pressblanket cylinders.

The foregoing and additional more detailed objects and advantages of theinvention are achieved by the device described hereinafter andillustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an offset press to which my inventionis applied.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view of my blanket cylinder cleaningattachment along line 2-2 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of my blanket cylinder cleaning attachment.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view of myblanket cylinder cleaning attachment along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view of myattachment showing a modified wiper blade construction.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of another form of blanket cylindercleaning attachment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the cleaning attachment illustrated inFIG. 6.

United States Patent 0 3,408,934 Patented Nov. 5, 1968 FIGS. 8, 9 and 10are transverse vertical sectional views along lines 8-8, 9-9 and 10-10respectively of FIG. 6. In FIG. 8 the adjustment bracket web iseliminated to improve clarity.

FIGS. 11, 12 and 13 are transverse vertical sectional viewscorresponding to FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 but showing the parts in theroll-engaging position.

FIG. 14 illustrates schematically the flow of fluid in the system.

FIG. 15 is an elevation view of the end of the tray remote from thatshown in FIGS. 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12.

The numeral 1 indicates an offset press having ink form rollers 5 anddamping form rollers 7 engaging plate cylinder 9, which in turn is intangential engagement with blanket cylinder 11. Paper 13 is urged intoimpressiontransferring engagement with blanket cylinder 11 by impressioncylinder 15.

My cleaning attachment, generally indicated at 17, is mounted on bracket19 on the press beneath the blanket cylinder 11, posterior along thedirection of rotation of the blanket cylinder from the line ofengagement between the blanket cylinder and the impression cylinder andanterior to the line of engagement between the blanket cylinder and theplate cylinder, and has a base 21 connected to bracket 19 by bolts 23.Base 21 is secured to the flat bottom of an elongated tray havingoutwardly sloping sides 29 and upright ends 31.

Pins 33 projecting longitudinally from the opposite ends of base 21 formpivot bearings for the curved end portions 35 and 37 of C-shaped arms 39and 41 which extend transversely outwardly below the bottom of tray 31in opposite directions from pins 33 and then upwardly and outwardly asat 43 and 45 after which they are bent transversely inwardly as at 47and 49 to terminate above the interior of tray 31. At its upper terminal47, arms 39 support outer sloping side wall 51 of a pan having a fiatbottom wall 53, an opposite upright Side wall 55 and end walls 57, theslope of pan side wall 51 being similar to that of the adjacent trayside wall 29. Intermediate their ends, arm portions 43 and 45 at eachside are connected by an elongated bar 58 to keep the arms in alignmentwith each other.

A fiat elongated wick or strip 59 of capillary material is mounted bymeans of U-shaped clips 61 against the upright wall 55 of the pan, withits upper margin projecting upward from the pan and its lower portionextending well into the pan.

For adjusting the pressure of strip 59 against blanket cylinder 11,thumb screws 63 threadably extend through alignment bar 58 with theirinner ends 65, of reduced diameter, extending through small holes 67 inchannel brackets 69 on the outer surfaces of tray side walls 29, theshoulder thus formed on screws 63 being held against the outer surfacesof brackets 69 by U-washers 71 seated in suitable annular grooves in thereduced ends 65 of screws 63. By turning screws 63, arms 39, and withthem, pan 51, 53, 55 and wick 59, can be adjusted to any'desiredposition with respect to the surface of cylinder 11. The pan is filledwith water or solvent, as desired, and thumb screws 63 are adjusted sothat the upper edge of wick 59 will engage the surface of blanketcylinder 11 uniformly throughout the width of the former.

For removing foreign matter softened or dissolved by the water orsolvent, and excess liquid from the surface of the blanket cylinder,arms 41, 45, 49 support a flat wiper blade 75, preferably of rubber orrubber-like material, which may be mounted on a block 77, grooved alongits upper and lower surfaces as at 79 for clamping attachment betweenopposed projections 81 on the channelshaped extensions 82 of arms 49.

By means of thumb screws 63, the upper edge of wiper blade can bebrought into light or heavy wiping en- .gagement as desired, with thesurface of blanket cylinder vfiectslightly in the event any thickenedaccumulation on the blanket cylinder. strikes the wick or the wiperblade,

thus preventing damage to .the structure.

Periodically, a blade 83 of abrasive material, such as pumice, may besubstituted for the rubberblade 75, for the purpose of removing glazefrom the blanket cylinder. Operation of the device is as follows: Withthe tray drained, adjustments of wick 59 and wiper to bring them intouniform engagement with the blanket cylinder can be made by thumb screws63. Pan 51-57 is then filled with water, and after the press is started,further adjustments can be made in the position of wick 59 and wiper 75relative to the blanket cylinder surface to assure the necessarycleansing and wiping action. As the blanket cylinder rotates clockwiseas viewed in all the figures, water or solvent from pan 5157 is appliedto its surface by capillary action of wick 59 to dampen the surface ofthe blanket cylinder and soften the accumulation thereon. The water,excess gum, excess acid and other impurities on the cylinder are thenwiped from the surface of the blanket cylinder when the latter passeswiper 75 and are discharged from wiper 75 into tray 27, 29, 31, so thatwhen the surface of the blanket cylinder again engages the platecylinder, all impurities and excess fluid have been removed and theinked image will transfer properly from the plate cylinder to theblanket cylinder.

Periodically, when the blanket becomes glazed, pumice blade 83 may besubstituted for blade 75 and brought into engagement with the blanketcylinder surface by adjustment of screws 63. As the blanket cylinder isrotated, it is moistened by water or solvent from wick 59, the glazebeing removed by the abrasive action of the pumice.

In the modified form of the invention shown in FIGS. 6-14 the pressmount comprises a fiat bar 101 with its ends 103 turned downwardly forattachment to the press beneath the blanket cylinder by bolts 105 andits intermediate portion slightly otfset transversely of its length asat 107 and 109 to avoid interference with portions of the pressstructure. Bar 101 is transversely slotted at 111, 111, in alignmentwith the attaching studs 113 which, like bolts 23 in the previousembodiment, depend from base 115 of the modified attachment, and studs113 pass K through these slots and are secured to bar 101 by nuts, theslots permitting some adjustment of the position of ,the attachmenttransversely of the press mount bar.

An elongacd tray, similar to tray 29, 31, and having sloping sides 117and upright ends 119, is secured by means of its fiat bottom 121 to base115 with its ends projecting lengthwise a slight distance from base 115.Pins 123 projecting longitudinally from the opposite ends of base 115form pivot bearings for-the lower ends of generaly C-shaped arms 125 and127 which extend transyersely outwardly in opposite directions from pins123 below the bottom of tray 117, 119, 121 and then upwardly andoutwardly at 128 and 129 respectively to a higher level than thesides ofthe tray after which they arebent inwardly to extend over the interiorof the tray. The upwardly extending portions 128 of arms 125 areconnected by a fiat bar 131 which is preferably integral with both arms125, to assure their movement in unison. An elongated pan having asloping side wall 133, a bottom wall 135, upright side wall 137 andupright end walls 139 is supported within the tray by the upper ends ofarms 125 which are secured to the upper margin of pan sloping side wall133. An upright divider 141 is m'ountedwithin thepan and extends thefull length thereof, but is spaced a slight distance from bottom'wall135, and a wick 143 of capillary material is positioned against thesloping side wall 133, with its bottom edge engaging the bottombf thepan and its upper margin projecting upwardly from the upper edge ofsloping side wall 133 for engagement with the blanket cylinder. Withthis arrangement a positive angle of engagement of the wick with blanketcylinder 11 is provided, as distinguished from the substantially rightangle engagement of the previous embodiment. For supporting the wickandrigidifying it, an elongated block 145, witha thin plate 147 secured toit, is interposed between divider 141 and wick 143, and the latter issecured, as by stapling, to these members. For holding block inposition, generally S-shaped clips are mounted on divider 141 with theiropposite end engaging wick mounting block 145.

For adjusting the inclination of the wick and its pressure againstblanket cylinder 11, arms 125 are formed with outwardly extending ears151, which are grooved at 153 along their surfaces facing the tray, andelongated thumb screws 155 are threadably mounted in brackets 157 on theend walls 119 of the tray, with their threaded ends seated in grooves153 and their handle portions extending transversely outwardly from thetray to facilitate manual adjustment of the wick from the left side ofthe tray. Arms 125 and with them wick 143 are resiliently biased in acounterclockwise direction, i.e., toward screws 155, by a coil spring154 connected to ear 151 at the forward end of the tray as viewed in thedrawings.

A fiat wiper blade 161 of rubber or rubber-like material is supportedfrom portions 129 of arms 127. Arms 127 are each formed with extensions163 depending within the tray from the upper extremities of portions129. Extensions 163 are formed with upturned end portions 165, and blade161 is secured along its lower margin to an elongated bar 167 slotted at169 to receive arm extension end portions 165. To provide for pivotalmovement of both arms in unison, they are rigidly connected by an anglebar 171. The outer surfaces of arms 127 are ver-' tically grooved as at173 to abuttingly receive the ends of short thumb screws 175, which arethreadably mounted at 176 on an elongated bar 177 extending parallel tothe adjacent tray side wall. Bar 177 is formed withcylindrical ends 178projecting from its upper corners nearest the tray and ends 178 arerotatably journaled in brackets 179 afiixed to tray end walls 119. Thumbscrew mountings 176 are located on the bar at a higher level than andmore remote from the tray than cylindrical ends 178 whereby to maximizemovements of thumb screws toward and away from arms 127 responsive topivotal movements of the bar about ends 178. Springs 181, connected attheir opposite ends to arms 127 and brackets 17 9 respectively, act intension to bias the arms into engagement with screws 175. From theforegoing it will be apparent that both the wiper blade and the wick canbe adjusted from the same side of the tray by use of thumb screws 175and 155 respectively.

To permit selective engagement and disengagement of the wick and wiperblade with the surface of the blanket cylinder without disturbing thethumb screw adjustment, a first plate-like control lever 183 is fixedintermediate its ends to one cylindrical end 178 of square bar 177whereby rotation of lever 183 causes a corresponding rotation of bar 177to move thumb screws 175 toward and away from the tray and thus eitherforce wiper blade 161 into engagement with the blanket cylinder orpermit springs 181 to retract it.

At its inner end lever 183 is formed with vertically spaced bifurcations187 and 189, the opposing faces of which are alternately engageablewithstop pin 191 projecting from tray end wall 119 adjacent the tray sidenearest the wiper blade. 1

A second plate-like lever 193, coplanar with lever 183, is fulcrumed onpin projecting from the middle of tray end wall 119. The end of lever193 adjacent the bifurcated end of lever 183 is provided with a pair ofver tically spaced bifurcations 197 and 199, somewhat more closelyspaced than bifurcations 187 and 189 of lever 183, with bifurcation 199projecting above bifurcation 189 so as to be underlyingly engaged by thelatter upon counterclockwise movement of lever 183 and thus produceclockwise movement of lever 193, lever 193 being biased counterclockwiseby torsion spring 201 on pin 195 so as to maintain bifurcation 197against stop pin 191. The outer end 203 of lever 1 93 engages ear 151 ofblanket roll arm 125 so that when lever 193 is tilted clockwise, bycounterclockwise tilting of lever 183, car 151, wick arms 125, the wickpan and wick 143 will be moved clockwise, with the wick moved away fromengagement with the blanket cylinder.

For fixing the levers in the on and off positions, an adjustment bracketcomprising an upright web 205 and flange 207 is rigidly supported fromtray end 119 outwardly of levers 183 and 193 by stop pin 191 and pin178. The outer end portion 209 of flange 207 extends arcuately upwardand is pierced with two arcuately spaced radial holes 210 correspondingto the limit positions of lever 183. The outer end portion 211 of lever183 protrudes outwardly beyond arcuate fiange portion 209 and is ofbox-like shape, the radially spaced ends 213 of which are pierced toslidably accommodate radial plunger 217, which is biased radiallyinwardly by a spring 219 seated on outer end 213 and acting against ashoulder 221 on the plunger. For retracting plunger 217, it is formedwith a V-shaped handle 223. With this arrangement, the levers may belocked in the on position, with the wiper blade and wick in engagementwith cylinder 11, by insertion of plunger 217 in the upper hole, andconversely in the ofi position, by insertion of the plunger in the lowerhole, removal of the plunger from the holes for rotation of the leversbeing accomplished by pulling on plunger handle 223.

Adjustment bracket flange 207 is also formed with an upstanding rear end225 to which is secured the forward end of wick spring 154.

In order to facilitate draining of the tray, the end wall 119 remotefrom the on-off adjustment mechanism, best seen in FIG. 15, is providedwith a petcock 227 having an elongated stem 229 extending forwardlytherefrom and terminating in a handle portion. With this arrangement,after the attachment has been used, the used water and impuritiesdissolved therein may be drained from the tray from the same positionforward of the tray as the wick'adjustments are made.

Operation of the modified attachment is as follows: With the on-offcontrol in the position shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, with plunger 217 inlower hole 210 of control bracket arcuate flange 209, bottom bifurcation189 on wiper control lever 183 underlyingly engages bottom projection199 on wick control lever 193, causing end 203 of the latter to engagecar 151 of wick arm 125 and hold the latter against the tension ofspring 154 in the extreme clockwise position with wick pan sloping wall133 nearly engaging the adjacent tray side wall 117, as best seen inFIG. 10, and the wick out of engagement with cylinder 11. Because of therigid connection of end portions 178 of square bar 177 to control lever183, bar 177 is tilted counterclockwise, causing a correspondingmovement of screws 175 away from the tray, so that springs 181 hold arms127 at the extreme counterclockwise position, with their innerextensions 163 substantially against the adjacent tray side wall 117 andscraper blade 161 out of engagement with the blanket cylinder surface.

When it is desired to utilize the cleaning attachment, handle 223 ispulled outwardly to retract plunger 217 from lower hole 210, and lever183 is rotated clockwise to the position shown in FIG. 11, whereinplunger 217 is forced into the upper hole 210 by spring 219. Thismovement of lever 183 causes a similar rotation of bar 177, which causesscrews 175 to push wiper blade arms 127 clockwise toward the surface ofblanket cylinder 11, after which precise adjustment of wiper blade 143can be elfected by manually turning adjustment screws 175. The clockwiserotational movement of lever 183 also disengages its lower bifurcation189 from lower projection 199 of lever 193, permitting torsion spring201 to force lever 193 counterclockwise until its upper projection 197engages stop pin 191. This movement of lever 193 permits spring 154 tomove wick arms counterclockwise and move wick143 toward blanket cylinder11, after which precise adjustment of wick 143 can be effected bymanually turning wick adjusement screws 155.

The flo'w of fluid is diagrammatically shown in FIG. 14 in which arrows,originating at water level in the wick pan, between pan side wall 137and divider 141 pass below the divider, thence up the wick by capillaryaction, thence along the surface of cylinder 11, and thereafter down thewiper blade into the bottom of the tray, from which they may later bedrained through petcock 227.

Thereafter, when it is desired to disengage the cleaning attachment wickand wiper blade from the blanket cylinder, this can be effected withoutdisturbing the adjustment of the wick and wiper blade adjustment screwsand respectively by moving control lever from. the posi-. tion shown inFIG. 11 to that shown in FIG. 8. I

The details of the cleaning apparatus may be modified substantiallywithout departing from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive useof such modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims iscontemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. A cleaning attachment for a cylindrical surface comprising a trayadapted for stationary mounting adjacent the cylindrical surface andelongated parallelto the axis of the cylindrical surface, a pan carriedin said tray and mounting a wick elongated axially of the cylindricalsurface and having an edge engageable therewith, and a similarlyelongated wiper blade mounted in said tray and having an edge engageablewith the cylindrical surface, said blade being positioned posterior tosaid wick along the direction of rotation of the cylindrical surface.

2. An attachment according to claim 1 including arms pivoted on an axisparallel to the axis of the cylindrical surface relative to said trayand forming the mounting of said pan on said tray.

3. An attachment according to claim 2 including means for fixing saidarms at various positions about their axes whereby to adjust thepositions of said wick relative to the cylindrical surface.

4. An attachment according to claim 3 in which said means comprisesscrews having an end rotatably secured to a portion of said tray andtheir other end threadably passing through said arms.

5. An attachment according to claim 1 including arms pivoted to saidtray on an axis parallel to the axis of the cylindrical surface andforming the mounting of said wiper blade on said tray.

6. An attachment according to claim 2 including additional arms pivotedto said tray on an axis parallel to the axis of the cylindrical surfaceand forming the mounting of said wiper blades on said tray.

7. An attachment according to claim 6 in which the axes of saidfirst-named and additional arms are aligned with each other.

8. An attachment according to claim 1 in which said wiper blade is ofrubber-like material.

9. An attachment according to claim 1 in which said wiper blade is ofabrasive material.

10. An attachment according to claim 2 including additional anms pivotedrelative to said tray on an axis parallel to the axis of the cylindricalsurface and forming the mounting of said wiper blade in said tray.

11. An attachment according to claim 10 including means for fixing saidarms at various positions around their aries whereby to adjust thepositions of said wick and wiperblade relative to the'cylindricalsurface.

I 12. An attachment according to claim 11 including additional meansfor' retracting said wick and wiper blade from-engagement with thecylindrical surface without disturbing the adjustment effected by saidfirst-named means.

l 13. 'An attachment according to claim 12 wherein said first-namedmeans and said additional means are operable from the same sideof saidtray. I

r 14. An attachment according to claim 12 in which said fixing meanscomprises separate screws extending transversely of and supported fromsaid tray and resilient means biasing said arms against said screws.

15. An attachment according to claim 14 wherein said wick mounting armsand said wiper blade mounting arms are disposed on opposite sides ofsaid tray from each other.

16. An attachment according toclaim 15 wherein said screws engagecorresponding surfaces of said 'wick mounting arms and said wiper blademounting arms and are operable from the same side of said tray.

17. An attachment according to claim 16 including a member elongatedlengthwise of said tray and supported therefrom along one side thereoffor limited rotation about its longitudinal axis, said elongated memberforming the support of said wiper blade screws and a first transverselever fixed to said elongated member and selectively pivotable to rotatesaid elongated member and thus move said wiper blade screws between afirst position maintaining said wiper blade in proximate relation withthe cylindrical surface and a second position permitting said resilientmeans to retract said wiper blade from engagement with the cylindricalsurface.

18. An attachment according to claim 17 wherein the support of saidscrews on said elongated member is offset outwardly with respect to saidtray and upwardly from the rotation axis of said elongated member.

.8 '19. An attachmentaccording to claim 16 including a second transverselever fulcrumed on said tray 'and having 'a first end portion abuttinglyengageable with said wick supporting arm when said lever istilted aboutits fulcrum for opposing the action of said resilient means and causingretraction of said wick from engagement with the cylindrical surface.' 5p 1 20. An attachment'ac'cording to'claim 1Q wherein s'aid second leveris aligned with said first 'leve'rjsaid first end portion of said secondlever being remote from said first lever, said first and second levershaving adjacent endi'p'ortions formed with cooperating projectionsengageable with each other upon rotation of said first lever from the"first to second positions, to cause saids'econd lever to'tilt 'iritoengagement with said wick supporting arm, and resilient means biasingsaid second lever away from 'its' tilted position. 1 1

21. An attachment according to claim 20 wherein said adjacent endportions of said levers are formed withvertically spaced bifurcations,there being a projection from said tray disposedbetween' saidbifurcations and engageable alternately with the upper or lowerbifurcations 'to limit the rotation of both said levers. the lowerbifurcation forming cooperating projections.

. References Cited. r 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT E. PULFREY, PrimaryExaminer;

F. A. WINANS, ssistant Examiner.

